Railway-rail chair or fastening



(No Modem W. GOLME. RALWMC RAIL GHMR 0R EASTBNING.

P atntedfeb. l, 1887.

Unirse Sinne nrnnfr triceD` YVLLIAM GOLDIE, OF W'EST BLY CITY, MICHIGAN.

RlLWAYn'RAIL CHAiR OR FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 3557360, dated February l, 1887 Application filed September 9, lh Serial No, 2MASS. (No modem To @ZZ whom may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM Gonnie, a citizen of the United States, residing in lli/est Boy City, in the connty of Boy and State of Michigan, here invented certain new and use- 'ful improvements in Railway-Boil Ghairs, of which the 'following is n full, clear, and exact description, which will enohle others skilled in the ort to nioke and use the seine.

Heretoiore the permanent Way of railways has been divided into two greet classes7 viz: tho-t in which the rail is fastened directly to the Wooden tie or sleeper end that in which the rnil is fastened to n henry iron casting technically celled o chain and the chair secured to the tic by Spikes. Iheiirst system, while it has the merit of oheapness in the loeginning, is very expensive in the end, owing to the heavy expense incurred in keeping the mils in line, because the strain is nearly Iall directed upon the spikes upon the outside oi" the rails, ns the oronfdin g net-ion. oi' the ionges of the Wheels has a constant tendency to spread the mils :ind no tendency Whatever to draw thein together', and this is the force that causes the numerous accidents from spreading of the rails, which are both costly and dangerous to life. Another defect of this system is that the spikes having nothing to hold thein np to their Work ond in close contact with the rail are very irregular in their hearings against the rail, o portion of them hearing very herd ngsinst it, while others do not touch it at all, and the consequence oi' this is that the necks of the spikes which beer hard against the rail are rapidly cnt `exi-oy with the extreme friction ond grit always present on the track, While the others fail entirely to accomplish the end for which they Were intended, and thereby diminishing the usefulness of the available ineens employed et leest seventyiive per cent. The `ose of the choir is confined to ronds where the high price of ties connterhelences the extremely high cost of laying e track with the choirs es e reil-fnstening-on expense which has been materially augmented by the erroneous principle involved in their construction. ln all the chairs heretofore Inode the idee appears to have been held that bulk must give strength, and hence all the chairs are bulky, heavy, ond cumbersome, extending over a, large aren. on the tie, end from their rigidity, large hearing on the tie, oud the brittle nature of the substance employed (enst iron) they require e special dressing of the tie to give them o. level and uniform hearing. As the rail is strong enough to resist deiiection between the ties, so the tie is strong enough to support the rail. Therefore the only effective Work performed hy the ordinary elisir is to equalize the pressure upon the spikes, and when the cha-ir is let into the tie it operates to transfer the lateral pressure to the shoulder on the tie.

' The objects of my inventionere to eccom-l plishnll these ends in ainuch more economical manner ond to construct e spilrebinder of snoh n form that all unnecessary Weight and aren is avoided, which does not require any special adaptation orl dressing of the tie to place it in position, which will be convenient and handy in use nud readily applicable to roads already built, and which will utilize the entire resisting power ofthe spikes and use the super-incumbent Weight oi' the passing trein ns :in auxiliary in tending to hold the rail and binderl in their places. lf nti-nin these objects by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l is n perspective View of my improved rail-chair or spike binder. Fig. 2 is a vertical section ofthe rnil and tie and of my improved choir when in position for use.

G represents on ordinary railway-tie, and E is the rail to loe secured thereto.

A is n plate or web of metal placed upon the tie and beneath the rail ond with its ends extendi ng beyond the rail and provided with the holes C, through'which and into the tie are passed the spikes F, with the heads of the spikes entehing over the flange of the rail. These holes C are of e proper distance apart to bring the spikebody to bear iirinly against the iionge of the rnil, end stops B are formed on the corners of the plate A by turning up a, portion of the side edges of the ploteyso the turned-up portion or stops will be et right angles with the plate and with their upper edges nearly even with the upper side of the miliiange, the inner ends of the stops beingin alignment with the inner edges of the holes C and bearing against the edges of the rail-denges. These stops operate to hold the plete in position in relation to the rail before the spikes ere driven, ond also to retain the rail in position should one of the spikes become broken or removed, as well as to assist in preventing undue wear upon the spike-body by the flange of the rail.

The under side of the plate, between the spike-holes C, is provided with serrations or teeth D, formed with one vertical and one inclined side, the vertical side being placed facing the outside ofthe track, and the inner end of the under side of the plate is slightly rounded, which allows the rails to be raised and the plate passed beneath with its rounded end forward,and on the plate being pushed to its proper position the rail drops between the stops B and is ready for the spikes.

It will be noticed that the leading feature of this invention is lthe thin metallic band, oi limited area, connecting the two spikes to gether and drawing the rail up tightly to the stops, and from its limited area and thinness being adapted to be forced by the weight of the train into the face of the tie, and the serrations being formed with a ratchet=like tooth, the vertical side of which is placed toward the outside of the rail, thereby gives the greatest power of resistance against any force tending to spread the rails.

The entire thickness of the plate A should be about threesiXteenths of an inch, as I iind this gives sufficient strength to properly inclose both spikes, and the width of the plate is about three inches, which -brings the stops B in a proper position to allow a claw-bar to pass between the stops and grasp the spike for its removal from the tie.

The substitution of the stops B for the flanges used in all other chairs is one ofthe most valuable features of the invention, as it avoids all of the complications of fastening incidental to the use of other chairs, which have to be slipped on from the end ofthe rail or be constructed of two parts and secured to the tie by a greater number of spikes.

In other chairs the thickness of the fiange on the chair requires the hole in the flange to be countersunk, in order to permit the spike to grasp the flange of the rail, and this construction renders the withdrawal of the spike from the tie very difficult, if not impossible, while by my arrangement the spike is as free to be grasped for removal as if driven directly into the tie without the chair. Other great advantages of this form of chair are that it is easily and quickly applied to roads that are already built, as by withdrawing the spikes from the tie the rail may be slightly sprung upward and the chair then pushed beneath the rail without entirely loosening the rails from the ties or changing their position, which avoids the expense of relining the track, and the spike-holes being of a uniform distance between and properly located to cause the spikes to bear rmly against the iianges of the rail it operates 4to cause such spike to bear iirmly against the edges of the rail-ange, and attain the objects of holding and supporting the rail in the best manner, and the spikes, being tied together by the plate, operate to distribute the spreading force of the anges of the wheels upon both of the spikes instead of only on the outside spike, as is the result when the rail is spiked directly to the tie, which renders the plate particularly benecial for supporting the spikes in curved portions of the track.

This spike-binder is not in any way designed to hold the rail to the ties or to support the weight of the rail, but is especially designed by its thinness'and limited area to be forced into the tie by a passing train and allow the rail to be supported principally by the `wood of the tie on each side of the spike-binder, which operates to avoid the noise of the moving train which occurs when the rails are supported by direct contact with solid metal fastenings.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A binder for railway spikes, consisting of a metal plate placed between the raily and tie, and with its ends extending on each side of the rail, and provided with holes for the railspikes, the said plate being of thin and narrow dimension, whereby it is forced into the tie by the passing train, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. A binder for railwayspikes, placed be tween the rail and tie, and consisting of athin and narrow plate of metal having its ends extending beyond the rail and provided with spike-holes, and having the side edges of the extended portions turned upward and forming guide-stops, as B, as herein described, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM GOLDIE.

VVit-nesses:

W. H. PowER, J. E, THOMAS.

IOO 

